My loft-bed only fell on me once.
Our role as architects has changed a lot over the years. Our role will continue to change as time moves forward. It is something that is constantly changing. The extraordinary architecture of yesterday is not that of today. Habraken said that this has created the durability of our built environment. As architecture changes or modifies, we as architects must still remain the mediator in the design process for these spaces.
Growing up I always was re-arranging my room. As a child I was dragging furniture and my loft bed around the room on almost a weekly basis. I could never get it just right. Everything had to be organized in it’s specific spot. I outgrew that re-arranging phase (mostly), but I kept the organizational trait. I’ve lived in a different apartment almost every semester of Clemson whether it be for abroad, COVID, or subleasing purposes. Every time I move I have the same furniture, but it’s always laid out a little differently. The reason for this is because every apartment is laid out a little different, each bedroom has slightly different dimensions, and you enter each room a little differently. I enjoyed reading “The Structure of Ordinary” because it put it all into good perspective with an immediate personal comparison. Configurations of spaces are different and so are perspectives of spaces. Going back to my moving analogy, I always wait to put anything on the walls for a few weeks when I move. The reason for this is because I know I’m going to move things two or three times in the first few weeks because I decide where I want stuff to stay. Normally everything is situated the way I want it by the end of the first month. There is structure in the ordinary that is enabled by adaptive flexibility of all designed spaces.
I appreciate your personal tie to this "never good enough" room layout internal battle you have and how purposeful the placement of your universal furniture into various apartment contexts follows this. Its a perfect way to articulate how your everyday life fills the void of an architectural frame someone else designed for you. The organization is far more important to you than chaos, and because of this you speak on how often you rearrange furniture to achieve this. Admittedly, I have lived in a few furnished apartments during my time in Clemson and rarely feel the need to shift around furniture that has already been placed for me. Comparing our two preferences, it shows how adaptable people are to the architect's vision but also how important the architect's vision has to consider how various people would prefer to live in the space that they create for us.
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